TO After Ross Says Rachel

So now we know :

After a shocked pause, Emily agrees to continue the ceremony, but she's only 
continuing for show, as she hurts Ross with the ring & refuses to kiss him. Once 
out of sight, she even hits him in the guts!

Next we move to the reception & hear Ross & Emily arguing behind closed doors 
about her being humiliated, then he emerges to a shout from Emily that she hates 
him. He pretends unconvincingly to the others that it just a spat.

Seizing the chance for a quick word, Chandler & Monica try to pass off their 
liaison as a mistake (or SEVEN mistakes, as Chandler says)! :) It's obvious 
they're as horny as hell though, and they agree to meet shortly in the wine 
cellar, saying it's OK in a foreign country, but not in NY.
Just as Monica is sneaking away however, Rachel sidetracks her, and by the time 
she gets away, it's too late - the drunken Mr.Waltham goes into the wine cellar. 
 
Joey is caught breaking his 'no meat while Phoebe's pregnant' pact, but excuses 
it by saying it doesn't count in a different country, to which C&M quickly 
agree. :)

Ross & Rachel meanwhile have a quick word, trying to convince each other that 
Ross's Freudian slip meant nothing. Ross then goes to fetch Emily from the 
bathroom, and Rachel jokes that, at her wedding she sneaked out of the bathroom 
window. Sure enough, that's exactly what Emily has done! 

Next, having been prevented from using the wine cellar, C&M go to Monica's room 
to make out, but Rachel is there already. Monica claims she wants to change & 
tries to persuade Rachel to leave, and Chandler says we'll meet you downstairs 
in 5 minutes, changed rapidly to 15 minutes after Monica nudges him! :) Even 
this ploy doesn't work though, and they're forced to move elsewhere.

They end up at Chandler's room and chain the door, but Joey arrives just after 
they do, saying he has a girl with him. Chandler says he has, too, but Joey 
replies 'No you don't, I just saw you go in there with Monica!'

They then move to the Bridal suite, figuring that Ross & Emily won't be using 
it, but Ross turns up, just as they're about to leap into bed! They want to 
leave, but Ross is so upset that they agree to stay with him.

When morning arrives they want to sneak into the next room to have sex, but Ross 
wakes up before they can act on the impulse. There's now no time before they 
have to leave for New York.

Just before they go, Emily's parents turn up saying that she never wants to see 
Ross again, but Ross begs her father to get her to reconsider and meet him at 
the airport. While this is going on, Emily's mother is openly flirting with 
Ross! :)

On the plane, thinking it's their last chance, C&M agree to join the 'Mile High 
Club', and Monica asks Chandler to meet him in the toilet. He's just about to 
oblige when Joey arrives and traps him with a series of inane questions. A half-
hour later, a pissed-off Monica returns and Joey thinks she was that long 
because of some bad food!

They finally get back to the apartment, whereupon the heavily pregnant Phoebe 
greets them, and says to Joey 'You ate meat' and (apparently) to Monica & 
Chandler 'You had sex!'. Chandler denies it, and Phoebe then says 'I know YOU 
didn't, I meant Monica'.

Phoebe & Joey then leave, and C&M are finally alone. They remind each other of 
their 'No sex in NY pact' but admit how much their night together meant to them. 
They then hug & Chandler leaves, only to return seconds later saying their body 
clocks are still on London time so it's OK. They then kiss passionately and, we 
assume, FINALLY get to have sex!

Meanwhile, back in London, a despondent Ross is waiting at the airport for 
Emily, hoping she'll join him for their honeymoon. Unfortunately though, Rachel 
turns up first, as she's on a waiting list for a return flight to NY. They chat 
for a while and then makes an idiotic decision to ask Rachel to join him on his 
honeymoon instead! After a few minutes persuasion, she agrees, but as she leaves 
to board the plane, Emily arrives, sees Rachel, and storms off again, followed 
by the desperate Ross, leaving Rachel stranded on the plane as it leaves!

In summary, I loved this episode mainly because of the C&M thing, I was laughing 
out load the whole time on their scenes, the Ross / Emily line was a bit lame 
though.

Oh yes, Monica's was HOT in that low-cut dress in the reception - expect 
vidcaps!

TOW All the Kissing

The episode starts excitingly, with Chandler & Monica having a bubble bath 
together! However they are interrupted by Joey, causing Monica to duck 
underwater to avoid being seen. Joey is curious as to why Chandler is drinking 
wine in the bath, but accepts Chandler's explanation that 'I had a long day'. He 
then offers Chandler food, which he forcefully declines as Monica is stuck 
underwater. Once Joey leaves, Monica surfaces and decides SHE wants some food, 
so Chandler has to call Joey back, and Monica dives under again, from which 
position she 'persuades' Chandler to change her drink order to diet coke! :)

Next, the gang are chatting about their London trip, and in the process annoying 
Phoebe who couldn't go. Ross is worried that Rachel will be upset that he left 
her stranded on the plane, but when trying to justify this, he accidentally says 
Rachel instead of Emily AGAIN, when meaning to say 'Emily is my wife'! :)

Rachel arrives back and pretends she's OK about being deserted, but as soon as 
Ross leaves, she admits to the others that's she's pissed off about it.

Chandler leaves for work & nearly blows the cover on his affair with Monica when 
he kisses her goodbye! Just in time though, he realizes what he's done and 
hurriedly kisses Rachel & Phoebe too. He has to do the same again later when 
caught kissing Monica again - she explains it as a 'European ritual'! Rachel & 
Phoebe express their displeasure at the kissing, and Monica says 'it makes me 
want to puke' to keep their secret.

Rachel decides that she is terrible at making decisions, so appoints Monica to 
do it. Naturally trouble immediately ensues, due to Monica's control freak 
tendency. She first suggests Rachel asks Gunther out, getting his hopes up, but 
then redirects her to another guy. The jealous Gunther than bars the guy from 
Central Perk! :)

When Rachel returns from her date (in a *HOT* dress), she blows him off to talk 
to Ross, which Monica catches her doing. They then have an argument during which 
Rachel admits she still loves Ross and wants to tell him so! Monica objects and 
Rachel tries to fire her as a decision-maker, but Monica comes back with 'You 
can't, I make the decisions'! :)

Ross sends Emily roses in a reconciliation attempt, but they come back shredded, 
providing Monica with material for pot pourri, and he hurriedly cancels his gift 
of teddy bears to avoid a 'massacre'! :)

Dismissing all objections, Rachel corners Ross in CP and tells him she still 
loves him! She then tries to make out is some sort of big joke, but Ross is 
gobsmacked all the same.

To console Phoebe over missing the London trip, the gang suggests a picnic in 
Central Park, but this just makes her angrier as she can do that anytime, so it 
doesn't feel special. Finally they compromise and arrange a trip to Atlantic 
City, but Phoebe goes into labour before they can start out.

The KILLER line was saved right for the end though.

Chandler & Monica are alone in the hall kissing, and Chandler says 'You know 
what's hard to believe, I had to kiss Phoebe & Rachel every time I left the 
room...it's too bad they didn't catch us having sex'! :)
Monica is briefly taken aback, then says 'Do you know ANYTHING about women?'
Chandler relies 'No', then she says 'That's all right then', and they resume 
kissing.

I was ROFLMAO for hours at that! :)

[As usual, I'll post vidcaps over the weekend]

TOW the Hundredth Episode

Not quite up to the standard of the first two, I thought, but there was never 
going to be the same scope for comedy in Phoebe giving birth to the triplets.

First off was Chandler & Monica arriving much later than the others, looking 
flushed! Their excuse that Monica forgot her jacket fell flat, since she STILL 
didn't have her jacket!

Joey had brought his camcorder to the hospital to film Phoebe's big event, and 
embarrassing everyone else with it again!

When Phoebe went into labour, Joey also started getting pains - at first they 
thought it was sympathy pains, but it turned out to be kidney stones. As a 
result Joey ended up in a hospital bed too!

Phoebe confides to Rachel that she wants to keep one of the babies, putting 
Rachel in a very awkward position, eventually she lets Phoebe down gently 
though.

Rachel trying to set up her and Monica up on a double date with two male nurses 
was embarrassing for both Monica & Chandler. Monica was trying to get out of it 
without revealing too much. Chandler, even insecure, was trying to cover his 
jealousy, thinking Monica was seriously considering it, but put his foot in it 
by saying 'that's OK, we're only goofing around' - which naturally Monica wasn't 
too happy about! :)
It gets sorted out later when C. redefines 'goofing around' to mean a committed 
relationship.

When Phoebe finally has the triplets they turn out to be two girls & a boy, the 
opposite of what was expected, and Frank Jnr shouts out 'Chandlers a girl'. The 
older Chandler says 'kindergarten flashback' :)

Phoebe finally has a sad moment alone with the babies though.

A comment about the epilogue though - it seemed a little inappropriate that 
Monica was sitting on Ross's knees, I know they're close, but it made me feel a 
little 'squinky'.

One comment I must make though is that it's so good that they're all getting on 
so well with each other at the moment, no bitching or squabbling. Just like the 
good old days of the first season! :)

TOW Phoebe Hates PBS

Yet another good episode - they're coming thick & fast this season!

Three plots as usual : 

Joey's TV appearance
Ross & Emily
Chandler & Monica

As usual, Phoebe comes up with a weird explanation for one of her little quirks. 
Then there was her obsession with finding a selfless good deed. After various 
attempts, including the bee-sting, she thought she'd done it with her donation, 
but to her horror, she felt pleased that got Joey on TV. Her best line was 
surely 'I can't let the babies grow up in a world where Joey is right! :)

Next there was Ross's desperate attempts to contact Emily, and when he finally 
did, his attempts to convince her there was nothing between him & Rachel - Yeah 
right! What a bitch she was though, just when Ross thought he was winning, she 
came up with that impossible condition, does Emily expect Rachel to vanish into 
thin air, whenever he visits Monica?!

In the end after his friends can't help, he turns to the magic 8 ball, but even 
THAT fails! :) Finally, after talking with Rachel, he makes a totally 
unconvincing promise to Emily - that'll last about as long as C&M keep their 
hands off each other! :)

Now, for me, the main business - Chandler & Monica.

I just wonder what pose Monica was in, when Rachel walked in on her, I'd love to 
have seen it! :) Chandler's line when he walked in clutching the champagne was a 
classic - 'The office now has wrinkle free fax paper'! :)

Boy, did Chandlers ego go into overdrive when Rachel let slip that Monica was 
having the best sex ever with her secret boyfriend!!! Too much so in fact, 
infuriating Monica with his celebration dance. Fortunately for them both, he 
managed to take his foot out of his mouth, by giving Monica the credit for 
making him what he'd become (which was probably true anyway - remember the 
erogenous zones instruction she gave him for Kathy's benefit). His plea to 'Call 
the other girls & ask - not many of them' was hilarious. Quite a place to make 
up though - the closet at central perk! :)

One or two other scenes too - Chandler telling the Chick & the Duck not to watch 
the cooking channel, Monica & the magic 8 ball.

BTW, I agree with the comments about Monica's hair, she could do much
better.



TOW With the Kips

Not a bad episode, but not the best of the season by any means.

Only 2 main storylines this week

Ross & Rachel about Emily's ultimatum, and the usual Chandler & Monica one.

Ross as usual had a hard job bring up the subject of something upsetting. It 
wasn't helped by various delays - Rachel's dog dying, her nosebleed, and lack of 
privacy. I liked the bit about Joey & his secret store of supplies in Monica's 
room, especially the lines about condoms & repopulating the Earth! :)

When Ross finally got up the guts to tell Rachel, she stormed out in one of her 
usual huffs. They managed to talk it through eventually though, but in the 
process Rachel upsetting Phoebe by saying she thought she'd be the first to 
leave. For the rest of the episode poor Pheebs was paranoid that they were 
plotting to abandon her!

Now - to Chandler & Monica.

Even their 3am liaisons are fraught with danger so their trip away SEEMED like a 
good idea, especially 'a whole lotta naked'! :)

The business with Monica & the hotel rooms seemed a bit excessive even for 
Monica though! And what's with Chandler though - If I was on a 'dirty weekend' 
with Monica I'd throw the TV out the window, lock the door and stay in bed the 
whole time! :)
Once again Chandler did his best to screw things up by referring to Monica as 
'Mom'! :) Fortunately Monica assured Chandler it was 'just a fight' and that 
they were in a relationship now. Her pointing out to Chandler that he always 
bailed after the first fight before, bodes well for the future IMHO.

When they arrived back though, they dropped clues so obvious that even Joey 
could follow them. Firstly, the eyelash curler, which led to Joey's 'gay cruise' 
accusation, then later on when Monica gave exactly the same excuses that 
Chandler did.

Joey's reaction when he finally put it all together was priceless! That has to 
be one of the all-time classic Friends scenes! :) They had to pull him into 
Monica's room & gag him to stop him spilling the beans. When M&C finally kissed 
in relief after obtaining his silence, he responded with 'I don't wanna see 
that' - I wonder whether that was discomfort or jealousy?

It goes without saying that Monica was HOT again (damn, I just DID say it)! :)

TOW the Yeti

Not a bad episode, but nothing special either.
 
Just one main storyline, plus a couple of minor ones, this week.

Firstly, the minor ones

Phoebe & the fur coat - real ethical dilemma for her, firstly wanting nothing to 
do with it, than gradually changing her mind, using typical Phoebe 'logic' to 
justify her change of heart! Finally ending up arguing with a squirrel! :) I 
liked Rachel's 'crime against fashion ' line too.

Rachel & the Yeti, started off with her and Monica getting the shit scared out 
of them & 'smoking' him. Then trying to apologize, and berating him for not 
sincerely accepting it. Finally, after he had a shave & haircut, Rachel ended up 
going on a date with him! :)

So, to the main business.

At long last the worm turned! :)

I could hardly believe the way Ross was humiliating himself for Emily - has the 
guy got NO self-esteem? Getting rid of his furniture & even his apartment, 
simply because Rachel had used it, ISTM that Emily has a MAJOR problem! :( Still 
no end to Gunther's obsession with Rachel though, agreeing to buy Ross's 
furniture for the same reason Emily wanted rid of it! :) Glad to see Joey put 
Ross straight, even though Ross didn't want to hear it at the time. Fortunately 
he finally realized he needed his friends more than he needed his bitch of a 
wife.

No Chandler & Monica stuff this week, for a change, apart from a passionate 
clinch at the beginning, and Joey's reaction to it - 'I can still hear you' :)
I preferred Monica's hair tied back, even if it was a bit schoolgirly (come to 
think of it, ESPECIALLY because it was)! :)

Finally, we had the return of an old favourite - the dreaded Ugly Naked Guy! :)


TOW Ross Moves In

I never thought I'd say this about an episode of Friends, but this was crap - it 
make TOW the Cat look like an Oscar winner. :(

There didn't seem to be any flow to the episode, and the storylines were just 
painful.

Oh well, I'll try and force myself to describe them.

Ross moving in with Joey & Chandler : It seemed odd to me that they didn't 
realize what they'd be taking on, since Ross roomed with Chandler at college, 
and Ross for a long while seemed unaware of how annoying he was being. Then 
there was C & J's very unsubtle hints about him finding a new apartment. Then C. 
sabotaging the awful apartment through guilt.

Phoebe & the health inspector : Well this did at least include the only bit 
which raised a chuckle - No surprise that Monica's restaurant was clean :), but 
being tricked into losing a perfect mark was slightly amusing. Then there was 
the bit about Phoebe leading him to places she didn't like to close them down, 
fortunately she saved Central Perk though. But was that health inspector an 
escapee from Nazi Germany or what? :)

Finally - Danny's party : Rachel was so pathetic about this it made me want to 
scream! :( How she could be so self deluded as to think Danny was playing 'hard 
to get' was unimaginable, even for Rachel. Not to mention the awkward position 
she put Monica in.

And of course the worst aspect of all - NO CHANDLER & MONICA WHATSOEVER! :(

OK, that's all I can stand to write about this episode, and the only 
compensation is that next weeks one is supposed to be especially good (although 
maybe that's just by comparison)?

TOW the Thanksgiving Flashbacks

Something of a weird episode this - a lot better than last week, but not one of 
the best of the season IMO.

Their discussion of their worst ever Thanksgivings was a good idea though - 
fills in a little more history (and one GLARING continuity error)!

Phoebe's past life civil war flashback - eww!

The 1992 one with Joey getting his head stuck in the turkey! :) 

This is where the continuity error occurs, since it's already been established 
that Joey only joined the group one year before S1, i.e. Autumn 1993, so how 
could he be in a 1992 flashback?

(One for MNL to be embarrassed about there, I'd say!) :)

The 1987 one with Fat Monica & Chandlers 'Flock of Seagulls' haircut, was great, 
especially with Monica clumsily coming on to him, and him fleeing. Finally with 
her overhearing him say to Ross 'I don't want to hang out with your fat sister'.
Oh well, it did finally shock her into losing weight! :)

1988 one was a real eye-opener for Chandler! When the newly slim Monica came 
down those stairs, his eyes were on stalks (mine too!) :) Her 'fat sister' 
revenge plot didn't exactly go to plan though, Chandler thinking she was nuts. 
In the end though, he really came off badly, with the knife accident - losing 
his toe (and Monica packing a carrot in ice instead of his toe)! :)
Also Ross calling him Sir Limpsalot!

Most significant bit was at the end of course - Monica coming to see Chandler 
with the turkey on her head, and doing her little dance - causing Chandler to 
say 'You look so great - I love you', then his desperate attempts to pretend he 
didn't say them. Too late Chandler! :)

Also, despite what some on ATF claim, this was the 3rd week in a row they didn't 
'hit the sack', thereby exploding the myth C&M's relationship is entirely sex 
based - it's barely even been mentioned!

TOW Ross's Sandwich

I loved this episode, it was pretty good all through, but the C&M bits had me 
ROFLMAO!

Three storylines again

Ross's Sandwich, Rachel's Class and Chandler & Monica

Firstly - Ross and his sandwich. He's starting to REALLY crack up now, isn't he!
Moaning endlessly to the others in Central Perk, then making his co-workers 
think he's mad by bullying them, then finally letting fly at his boss for eating 
the sandwich! Nice career move Ross! Fortunately he only got extended leave, 
rather than the sack! 

Phoebe's class : BIG mistake taking Rachel with her - stealing her summation of 
the book! Oh well, she got a vicious revenge though, tricking Rachel into 
thinking Jane Eyre was about robots! Still, you'd think she'd have known better 
than to take Monica with her instead - THAT turned out even worse!

Now - the main event!

Quite a build up to it, firstly Phoebe finding Chandlers pants, and Joey being 
forced to claim they were his. C&M then only just managing to buy his silence, 
nice try with the line 'you have to do it with me once'. :) Next - the video 
camera! Yet again Joey gets clobbered with the blame & loses his girlfriend over 
it, plus Rachel thinks he's a pervert! Mind you, he did come out with the 
comment 'Video camera - nice move!' Finally, the last straw was the naked photo 
of Monica (wish I'd seen it)! :) Could Chandler BE worse at hiding it? :) 
Anyhow, Joey found it of course, but first Rachel, then Phoebe & Ross all catch 
him with it! Huge lies ensued to try & explain that - ending up with JOEY saying 
he'd slept with Monica and she being forced to agree, just to keep up the 
pretence! She ended up appearing like a tart, but Chandler got away unscathed. 
You had to feel SOOO sorry for poor Joey though - caught in the middle of an 
untenable situation.
ISTM that THIS was the point where C&M should have come clean.

Monica was looking a little better than recently this week though - that BAD 
hairstyle finally fading. I'll post some vidcaps from this episode soon.


TOW the Inappropriate Sister

I didn't think very much of this one, no strong storylines.

Anyhow :

Firstly - Phoebe & her bell-ringing. This seemed very contrived to me, like 'We 
haven't given Phoebe her own story for a while, so lets dig up any old crap for 
her'.
She started off with Xmas spirit but soon got disillusioned with all the crap 
people kept putting in her bucket. In the end she got too controlly and got 
moved, not before she came up with 'No more Mrs Nice Bucket' though.

Ross is becoming a total pain in the butt now, don't you think? He totally tried 
to take over Joey's life, forcing him to right his play to a schedule, and 
pissing-off Chandler as well when they wanted to play Joey's Fireball game! :)
At least he ended up apologizing, even if he was tricked into it. That 'lesbian' 
play in the credits was SO Joey though! :)

Now - what about Danny & his sister? All I can say is EWW EWW EWW EWW EWW!!!

Wrestling is one thing, but pants wiping & the ultimate - bath sharing?! I 
thought this was Friends, not Brookside! :)
Just when Rachel finally got a date with him, via Monica, this happens!
I have to say that the bit with Chandler sneaking out of Monica's room was not 
exactly unpredictable though!

On this note, once again some people on ATF exaggerated the influence M&C had on 
the episode. AFAICS, only in about 4 episodes (of 10), have their affair been 
the dominant thread.

Anyway - hopefully next weeks episode will be better than this.


TOW the Resolutions

One of the better ones this week. All the characters had a decent share of the 
action.

Usual 3 storylines,

The resolutions, Ross's date, & Rachel finding out

Firstly though there was the 'kissing arrangements' with Chandler getting Joey 
to arrange it so Monica kissed him.

Nice set of weird resolutions I thought, especially Phoebe's! :) Chandlers ended 
up being the hardest to keep - you could see him being tormented by the effort 
NOT to make jokes. You just knew he'd crack though! :)
Joey's efforts to keep his resolution to learn guitar was frustrated by Phoebe's
NON-hands-on approach to teaching.

Next there was Ross's date. Now, he's had some bad ideas before but those 
leather pants really take the biscuit! Unfortunately Chandler couldn't drop his 
usual hint, so he ended up in his dates bathroom with his trousers round his 
ankles & covered in talcum powder & lotion! :)

Rachel's resolution turned out to be the most awkward of all though, after she 
heard Monica & Chandler talking dirty on the phone! :) She was DESPERATE to tell 
someone, but the one person she could tell, Joey, didn't want to know! In the 
end they had an awkward 'finding out each other knew about C&M' scene, caused by 
neither of them being willing to go to Chandlers room.

I wonder if Joey will tell C&M that Rachel knows about them too, now? There 
could be some ribbing about C&M 'doing laundry'! :)  

 
TOW Chandler's Work Laugh

This was one of the best episodes of the season!

Only two storylines this week : Ross & Janice (eww!), & Chandler's work laugh.

Firstly though, there was Rachel quizzing Joey about C&M but the only thing he 
could tell her was that they did it on the couch Rachel was sitting on! :)

Anyhow, to Ross.

First of all there was him splatting that poor innocent scone after hearing that 
Emily was remarrying! :) Then Joey asking if anyone still wanted it! Then there 
was his hooking up with JANICE of all people! On the EWW scale, almost as high 
as Danny & his sister! The looks on the gangs faces when Janice walked in 
though! :) The end was the killer though, with Janice splitting with Ross 
because HE was too whiny!!! :)  Her final parting remark to Joey chilled him to 
the bone 'That's 2 out of 3'! :)

Next : Monica really wasn't greatly enamoured with 'work' Chandler, was she! His 
fake laugh totally pissed her off! Next she almost upset his boss by refusing to 
ease up in her mixed doubles tennis game. Then at the subsequent meal she nearly 
got him into MORE trouble by stopping him from sucking up to his boss. Finally 
she got the message though, and saved the day with her 'not understanding the 
joke' ruse.
Monica was forced to lie to Rachel when Rachel came straight out and confronted 
her about the affair, but Rachel wasn't convinced. She was mollified however 
when she overheard Monica telling Chandler how bad lying to Rachel made her 
feel.

Anyone else think that C&M's 'house of cards' is beginning to crumble? :)

On a purely personal side issue, when Monica was chatting to Chandler in that 
blue top, that was almost as HOT as CC has ever looked to me! 

TOW Joey's Bag

Not one of the best in the season, though it did have it's moments.

Three storylines as usual :

Firstly, Monica's massages. Initially, I thought this was going to turn into an 
'intimate' C&M plot, but it's turns out that her massages are so bad that 
Chandler likens them to torture (he doesn't tell Monica that, of course)! :) 
Later on though, after both Phoebe & Rachel say how bad Mon's massages are, he 
admits privately to Monica that they were awful, this sends her into tears! 
Thinking quickly, knowing how competitive Monica is, Chandler comforts her by 
saying she gives the best bad massages in the world! :)

Secondly, Joey's Bag. Joey has an audition which requires him to look 
sophisticated, so he gets Rachel to sort him out some suitable clothes. 
Unfortunately he takes a shine to a bag, which Rachel unwisely convinces him is 
NOT a handbag! She says it's a Unisex bag, which Joey mishears as U-N-I-(you and 
I)-sex, which makes him think Rachel is coming on to him! :)
Naturally, the gang crack lots of 'gay' jokes at his expense, and in the end, 
the bag causes him to flunk his audition. Even then, it takes a lot of hard 
persuasion for him to give up the bag! :)

Anyhow - the main storyline was Phoebe meeting her father. Phoebes grandmother 
dies, and after a brief tense meeting with Ursula, she goes to the funeral. This 
short balding man in his 50's turns up, and unknowingly introduces himself to 
Phoebe. At her shock reaction he disappears, but Phoebe catches up with him and 
arranges a meeting at Central Perk, by pretending she was the executor for her 
grandmothers will.
At CP, she grills him with questions that confirm his identity, and finally 
after she finds out he doesn't know that Lily is also dead, she admits that she 
is his daughter. An uncomfortable few minutes follow, but then he sings a tune 
that he sang to her as a baby, and though the words are different, the TUNE is 
smelly cat!  


TOW Everyone Finds Out

To quote Janice - 'OH MY GOD!' - that episode was brilliant! Easily the best of 
the season by a long way! I was ROFLMAO all the way through it! :)

Two storylines this week, but only one of them is likely to be remembered! :)

Firstly, Ross buying Ugly Naked Guy's apartment.

The gang see a load of boxes (ironically marked clothes!) :), so they know he is 
moving, and go over to inspect the apartment. Ross loves it, and makes an 
immediate bid for it. Phoebe & Rachel are with him, but Phoebe looks across to 
the girl's apartment & sees Chandler & Monica making out & totally freaks!
There is a huge number of applications for UNG's apartment so Ross sends a bribe 
of muffins - unfortunately the other applicants have the same idea, and have 
given far bigger bribes! :)
Eventually he comes up with the tactic of using his knowledge of UNG's habits to 
meet and bond with him, getting naked himself being part of the process, during 
which time he is spotted by the gang watching  from across the street! :) This 
tactic works however, and he gets the apartment.

Now - the BIG storyline - Everyone finding out!

After Phoebe finds out about C&M, she plots with Joey & Rachel to get them to 
admit their affair. This takes the form of Phoebe coming on to him! :) 
Chandler tells Monica that Phoebe is doing this, but she doesn't believe him, 
until Phoebe pinches his butt right in front of her! First M then C both realize 
she knows, and decide to reverse the joke. After a bit more flirting by Phoebe, 
Chandler pretends to be interested, making Pheebs & Rachel realize they've been 
rumbled.
In response to this, she comes on REALLY strongly, to make Chandler crack. They 
get as far as starting a really uncomfortable kiss before Chandler finally gives 
in and shouts that he loves Monica, she charges out of the bathroom where she 
was hiding and says SHE loves him, then they hug & kiss! 
Phoebe responds in shock with 'I only wanted you to admit you were doing it, I 
didn't realize you were in love!' This left Ross as the only one not knowing.
  
That didn't last long though, as during the closing titles, he is entertaining 
his boss in his new apartment and glances out the window. No prizes for guessing 
what he sees! :) He freaks out and shouts 'GET OFF MY SISTER'! :)

PS, Loads of great potential vidcaps from this show - check out abtf in the next 
day or so.

TOW the Girl Who Hits Joey

Another excellent episode, almost as good as last week.

The three storylines were : Ross's new apartment, Joey's punching girlfriend, 
and Chandler & Monica's fight & making up.

Firstly - Ross has just moved into his new apartment when the building manager 
comes in and asks him to contribute $100 towards the handyman's retirement. 
Since he's just moved in, he's reluctant, and the manager takes umbrage and 
turns the whole building against him (I agree with Ross on this BTW).
He tries to make amends by throwing a party, but it clashes with the handyman's 
leaving do, so no one comes. When Ross goes to investigate, he even finds Phoebe 
at the other party! :) Both he & Phoebe then try to undo the damage, but keeping 
on putting their foot in it, they eventually end up alone in Ross's apartment 
eating crisps!

Secondly - Joey's aggressive girlfriend. 

Joey's new girlfriend likes to punch Joey on the arm, playfully she thinks, but 
it really hurts him. When he tells the gang, they take the piss on him about it! 
:) He tries to explain to her about it, but she thinks he is joking, and 
continues to hit him. He finally shows up wearing six sweaters and explains to 
Rachel that it is to protect him when he breaks up with her. She turns up, but 
before he can break up with her, she starts playfully punching Rachel in the 
same way. This goes back & forth for a while until Rachel has enough and kicks 
her hard on the leg. This angers her and she demands the Joey takes action or 
she will leave. Since this saves him making the break-up, he does nothing and 
she storms out. (Having read the US spoilers a while ago, apparently the actress  
is well known in the US, but I doubt anyone in the UK will know her).

Finally (as always), Chandler & Monica!

In the intro, Ross charges round to the apartment to confront C&M, and Chandler 
acts like he wants to go down the fire escape! However, after Chandler & Monica 
tell Ross they love each other, he is mollified, and finally says how great it 
is! Joey & Rachel show up however, and reveal they knew about the affair, which 
briefly angers Ross again, but he soon relents when he realize they were just 
trying to protect his feelings.
Later in Central Perk, the gang begin talking about marriage & babies which 
starts to freak Chandler out (the old Metaphorical Tunnel thing again)! :) 
Monica confronts him about this, and they have a BIG fight over his fear of 
commitment. He's at a loss as to how to make up with her, as he can't talk to 
Monica about it.
Finally though, he comes up with a desperate solution - he proposes to her in 
front of the whole group! He's only half-serious of course, as in his panic he 
couldn't think of anything else. Monica realizes this of course, but forgives 
him for their earlier fight because she sees how sincere he is about wanting to 
make things right between them. She then asks him what he would have done if she 
had said yes - he says he'd either be happy, or there'd have been a Chandler 
shaped hole in the door! :)
During the closing credits, Chandler is being ribbed about the proposal, and 
Ross jokes to Rachel, that he's sorry about the Chloe incident, and will she 
marry him. This is so obviously in bad taste, that the others look away in 
disgust.

TOW the Cop

Nothing special about this episode, none of the 3 storylines really stood out.

Firstly, there was Joey & his dream about Monica. He then woke up in shock! For 
a while he acts all hesitant around Chandler & Monica, but they finally get him 
to say what's bothering him. Chandler suggests Joey on had the dream because 
Chandler is now the apartment stud! :) 
They convince him that being friends first is a good way to get a date. 
Unfortunately he takes this advice literally and starts hitting on Rachel! She 
politely brushes him off. In the end though, in typical Joey style he meets a 
girl and ends up having a threesome with her and her flat-mate! :)

Next, Phoebe and the Cop.
While hunting for change under a Central Perk sofa cushion, Phoebe finds a 
police badge. The power of the badge goes to her head and she starts harassing 
members of the public for things she doesn't like! :) Eventually she runs into 
the cop whose badge she was using, and trues all sorts of daft reasons as to why 
she has it.
Later on, she is in the girl's apartment but the cop tracks her down via her 
fingerprints on his badge, and we get hints that Phoebe's had a 'colourful' 
past! 
Luckily he doesn't want to arrest her though, he wants to ask her out! :)

Finally, Ross & the Couch.

Yet another lame Ross storyline, I'm afraid. He goes with Rachel to buy a couch 
and decides to take it home himself because of the high delivery charge. During 
the purchase he gets into an argument with the shop assistant who thinks he & 
Rachel are together. They admit they once were, and Ross lets slip that they did 
'it' 298 times! :)

When they get the couch back to the apartment, they can't get it up the stairs, 
so they enlist Chandler's inept help. Eventually the sofa gets completely stuck 
on the stairs. In the end credits we see Ross back at the store with a sawn-in-
half sofa trying to get a refund! :)

Oh well, maybe next weeks will be better! 

TOW Rachel's Inadvertent Kiss

Talk about ROFLMAO - that episode was absolutely brilliant!!!

Right from the start when Phoebe's hand was crushed by Monica's handshake, and 
said 'I'm glad in not Chandler!' That had me in stitches for minutes! :)

Anyway, usual three themes :

Firstly Rachel's job interview. It was clear whether she had left Bloomingdales, 
or was just unhappy there, but she was trying for a new job anyway.
At the end of the first meeting, the interviewer leant close past her to open 
the door, but she misread the signs and kissed him! She then got a 2nd interview 
but when the interviewer tried to point out that she had ink on her lips, she 
misread AGAIN, and thought he was asking her to 'put out' to get the job, so she 
stormed out. Later on, after the gang put her straight on what the guy was 
trying to show her, she managed to get a 3rd chance during which she (very 
badly) tried to explain her behavior. It all worked out in the end though as she 
got the job, though not before accidentally touching his...well, you know! :)

Next, Joey & the HOT girl. While watching Ross larking about through the window, 
Joey spots a hot girl in Ross's apartment building. He tries to work out which 
apartment she's in, but keeps on miscounting, and ending up at Ross's flat! 
After several attempts, he enlists Monica's help and she points out that he's 
miscounted and directs him to the correct apartment.
Unfortunately for Joey, by this time Ross has met the hot girl and asked her out 
himself. The upshot of this is, when Joey goes to the hot girl's apartment, he 
finds Ross there and thinks he's miscounted AGAIN! :)

Finally, the sex 'contest'! For the first time ever, Phoebe has a date that's 
lasted longer than one show. She and her boyfriend (the cop she met last week) 
have apparently been at it like rabbits, and Monica, not wanting to be outdone, 
even at this, drags Chandler away to try and prove they are the hotter couple! 
:)
Later Joey spots the hot girl through the window, and Chandler says I must see 
her, then stops just in time, turns & points to Monica saying 'And here she is' 
- nice save Chandler! :)
Eventually Chandler protests Monica wants them to have lots of sex JUST to outdo 
Phoebe. He then pauses, thinks what am I saying, then says 'What are we waiting 
for!' :)
Finally there's a really nice scene where Monica follows Chandler into the mens 
toilets, and admits that she regrets that their relationship is not at the 'sex 
anywhere, anytime' stage any longer. Chandler then comes up with the most sweet 
thing he's ever done, by reassuring Monica that they've gone beyond that stage 
and where they are now is so much better because they are in love.
Unfortunately, he then ruins the mood by pointing out that for once it was 
Monica that freaked out and HE fixed things - following up with his dreaded 
dance! He then realizes what he did and says, back to normal again! :)

Lots of good vidcap opportunities too, especially as Monica was looking 
incredible tonight! 

TOW Rachel Smokes

NOT a good episode, I have to say.

Usually there is at least one good storyline amongst the three, but they all 
seemed a bit lame this week - still, I'll go through them anyway.

Firstly, Ben's TV audition.

Ben was walking in the park with Ross & Carol, and was offered the chance to 
audition for a soup commercial. This makes Joey jealous since he has so much 
trouble getting auditions himself!
Joey DOES get the chance to play Ben's dad though, and both he & Ben get a 
callback for a 2nd audition. It turns out that there are two boys up for the 
commercial however, and Joey has to play the father of the other boy.
This leads to arguments between Ross & Joey because Joey says the other boy is a 
better actor.
In the end though, Joey blows the audition (surprise) :), thus leaving Ben with 
the part.
He's feeling bad about it but then, gullible as ever, he's convinced by Ross 
that subconsciously he failed deliberately to let Ben win.

Secondly, Rachel's new job.

She's discussing designs with her boss & her assistant, when the other two break 
off for a smoke. While doing that, they finalize the designs, bypassing Rachel's 
input.
She feels SO left out, that next time she follows them down and even smokes 
herself to 'fit in'. She doesn't like it though & tries to persuade the other 
two to give up 'with' her.
Later in Central Perk, Monica comments that Rachel smells of smoke, and leaves, 
but ex-smoker Chandler sniffs Rachel's clothes! :)
Finally she busts the others having a secret smoke, but her boss, thinking she 
has really quit, says she'll sack her if she smokes again.
In the closing credits there is a funny scene where Chandler visits Rachel's 
firm's smoking room and sneaks a quick drag! :)

Finally, the surprise party.

Phoebe & Monica decide to throw a surprise birthday party for Rachel - the main 
surprise being that they're having it a month BEFORE her birthday! :)
Naturally, control freak Monica takes over the party planning, and leaves Phoebe 
with only the cups & ice to provide.
Phoebe then hits back by providing thousands of cups and tons of ice!
During the party, Monica gets annoyed with Chandler because he pays more 
attention to Phoebes ice than Monica's cooking.

TOW Ross Can't Flirt

For the second week in a row, not an episode I thought was that good. It seemed 
somewhat disjointed to me.

Firstly, Joey's TV appearance. This was a REALLY lame plotline for me.
Joey invites his non-English-speaking grandmother over to see his appearance on 
'Law & Order'.
Unfortunately, his scene turns out to have been cut, and he spends the whole 
episode trying to conceal this from his grandmother. He even goes as far as 
reshooting it with his camcorder which actually fools his gullible grandmother! 
:)

Secondly, the earrings. Monica wanted a particular pair of earrings for her 10 
month anniversary. Unfortunately she had lent them to Phoebe, who had in turn 
lent them to Rachel. This is a problem since Monica never lends Rachel anything 
as she loses it.
True to form, she has lost one of the earrings, and she begins a frantic but 
eventually fruitless search for it. We discover via Phoebe that Chandler has a 
jewelry box though! :)
Phoebe volunteers to take the rap for the lost earring, and after an abject 
apology, she & Monica hug. Seeing this Rachel owns up expecting leniency, but 
instead gets a roasting from Monica! :)

Finally, the flirting. When Ross & Chandler get a pizza delivered, C. makes 
small talk with the attractive short-haired pizza delivery girl, including a 
comment about her hair making her look like an 8yo boy. However, the watching 
Ross misinterprets this as flirting, and attacks Chandler about it - 'cheating' 
on Ross's sister. 
Later in the girls apartment it comes out about C's 'flirting', but Monica is OK 
about it. Unfortunately Chandler admits that he isn't OK with Monica flirting. 
Rachel was then asked if she minded when Ross flirted when they were together. 
She says 'I wasn't bothered when he flirted with other women, only when he SLEPT 
with other women!' :)
 During all this, Ross makes increasing inept attempts to flirt with Caitlin, 
the pizza-girl. Finally after his last attempt fails, Rachel takes pity on him & 
persuades the pizza girl to give her number to Ross.

TOW the Ride Along

Better than the last two weeks, but still below the general standard of the 
season.

Just two main storylines this week, Emily's message, & the ride-along.

First, the ride-along.

Phoebe had such a great time on a ride-along with her cop boyfriend Gary, that 
the guys want to go on one too. When they do, it starts off fairly dull, except 
for Joey ordering a 'special' sandwich & Chandler being afraid of the dark! 
It then livens up when a loud bang is heard, which the guys believe is a gunshot 
(though it was just a car backfiring). Joey dives on top of Ross, making Ross 
think Joey was trying to protect him. 
Later, back at the apartment Chandler's nose is put out of joint because he 
thinks Joey tried to save Ross rather than him. After a little 
misinterpretation, Joey finally admits he was trying to protect his SANDWICH!
Ross meanwhile, leaves a message on his own answering machine thinking he's had 
a near-death experience.

Secondly, Emily's message. 

While visiting Ross's flat, Rachel overhears a phone message from Emily asking 
Ross to call her. She talks to Monica who tries to convince her to erase the 
message. Rachel argues against it, but then accidentally erases the message 
herself!
Later, Rachel decides to tell Ross about the message. At first he wants to call 
her because of his ride-along shock, but Rachel takes him out of it by telling 
him it was a near-miss experience, not a near-death one!

TOW the Ball

Better than the last few weeks, but still not a classic.

Three main storylines this week : Rachel's cat, Gary & Phoebe, and the Ball.

Firstly, Gary & Phoebe. Gary decides to ask Phoebe to move in with him, and 
confides in Monica - big mistake!
She immediately blurts it out to Phoebe, who's reluctant to say the least. In 
order to dissuade him, she recruits Chandler who she thinks will use his fear of 
commitment to change Gary's mind. Unfortunately this fails.
When he finally asks her, she turns him down but he looks so devastated that, 
against her better judgement, she changes her mind.
Even so, Gary senses her reluctance and confronts her in 'interrogation' style 
in a police interview room, where she admits she doesn't want to move in. They 
have a heart-to-heart chat, and she is finally convinced.
There bliss ends quickly though, as while listening to the dawn chorus, Gary 
shoots one of the birds! :(

Next, Rachel's cat. Rachel decides to buy a cat like one her grandmother had. 
Unfortunately she chooses a $1000 hairless variety, causing Joey & Ross to pass 
disbelieving comments.
Rachel's love for the cat turns out to be short-lived as it is vicious, totally 
unlike her grandmothers.
She is now desperate to sell it to recoup her impulse buy, but she has no 
success despite high-pressure salesmanship. Finally she finds a buyer though, 
the still smitten, Gunther! :)

Finally, the Ball. When Rachel first comes in with her cat, she finds Ross & 
Joey playing catch, which, as it turns out they've done for an hour without 
stopping!
Monica then muscles in on the game, and it then continues for hours until 
Chandler wants to join in. They are reluctant to let him as he's a 'dropper'. 
Eventually the game continues all night!
Finally it ends when the upset Phoebe comes in at 6am after breaking up with 
Gary, and puts the ball down, ending the game. The obsessed Monica still wants 
to continue though, but the others all walk out!

Expect the usual vidcaps this weekend.    

TOW Joey's Big Break

Quite a reasonable episode this week.

As usual, 3 main storylines. Rachel's eye infection, Phoebe's anger at Ross, and 
Joey's big break

Firstly, Rachel's eye. Her eye is itching and causes her to wink, but Joey 
thinks she's winking at him. She needs to see an optician, but she has a phobia 
about things touching her eyes (which the others promptly tease her about)!
Monica finally drags her to the optician, but she refuses to cooperate, and only 
when the eye-doctor say's he'll see her in 3 months to fit a glass eye, does she 
agree to take eye-drops.
Later Monica tries to trick her into taking the drops, and even wrestles her to 
the ground to try and force her to take them - leading to a comment that if 
Chandler & Joey were to see them in that position, they could make a fortune!
IN the end credits, the whole gang pin her down & force the drops into her eyes.

Next, Joey's big break. His agent has got him a lead role in a movie, and he's 
especially excited as it means a road trip to Las Vegas. All he needs to know is 
what route to take. Phoebe helps him by playing a 'quick questions' game, where 
she asks him a series of questions to which he has to reply instantly. One of 
them being 'Who would you rather sleep with, Rachel or Monica?'.
He later tries exactly the same question on Ross, eliciting the unsurprising 
response of 'Dude, you are SICK'!
He sets off to Vegas in Phoebe's cab, accompanied by Chandler, but Chandler lets 
slip that he doesn't think this is Joey's big break, and gets kicked out of the 
car.
When Joey finally arrives, he finds NO movie, as there is no money to make it, 
and ends up in a Centurion costume in a casino! 

Finally, Phoebe is angry with Ross for no discernable reason. Poor Ross has no 
idea why she is giving him the cold shoulder, and his attempts to find out only 
lead to further rejection. The others also try to find out, but Phoebe doesn't 
even know herself why she is mad!
Eventually Ross plays the quick-questions game and discovers that Phoebe DREAMT 
that Ross called her boring. 

TOW Las Vegas

Quite good, but not a patch on last seasons finale.

Four storylines this time. C&M's fight & make-up. Ross & Rachel, Joey's hand-
twin & Phoebe & the slot machines.

To set the scene: At the start of the show, Joey tries to convince the gang NOT 
to visit Las Vegas (so they don't find out his movie has died).

Monica admits to Phoebe that she bumped into Richard and had lunch with him, but 
begs her not to tell Chandler as it's their anniversary. Phoebe says she lost a 
$20 bet with Rachel that they'd last that long! :)

Next C, M & P all  decide to go to Vegas to surprise Joey. R&R can't go 
immediately though, and P. says to Rach that as she'll be alone in the apartment 
she could walk around naked if she wants. She says no, but when the time comes, 
she has a change of heart and strips off! (We see nothing much, of course) :(
Unfortunately for her, Ross sees her through his window and thinks she is coming 
on to him, he charges over & makes a fool of himself!

On the flight to Vegas, Phoebe lets slip to Chandler about Monica's dinner date 
and he freaks out!

When the gang reach Vegas Joey is finally cornered and forced to admit the truth 
about his movie. Meanwhile Chandler is still upset at Monica, and though she 
tries to apologize, he forbids her to see him, which unsurprisingly makes her 
angry and she storms off.

While Ross & Rachel are on the plane to LV, he wonders if she was embarrassed 
about being seen naked, she says no as Ross has seen her naked before, but he 
points out the rest of his building could see her too! She then claims she's not 
easily embarrassed, which then provokes an escalating battle to humiliate each 
other. Ross wins this round by drawing a mustache & goatee on Rachel while she 
sleeps.

Meanwhile, Phoebe convinces Mon. to go find Chandler & apologize, but she gets 
distracted and starts gambling with a poker chip she finds. Joey is also 
gambling, and he's amazed when he sees a croupier with identical hands to him, 
which he bizarrely thinks he can make money out of.

Phoebe now finds Chandler & is surprised to find that Monica hasn't spoken to 
him. He goes to hind her, but sees her engrossed in her gambling, so he makes as 
if he's going home. She catches up with him, and FINALLY convinces him that 
Richard means nothing to her any more, and they kiss & make up.

Joey has embarked on a search for his hand-twin, but freaks the guy out when he 
finds him (after hitting on a female croupier)! :)

Rachel discovers what Ross did to her, and also that the ink won't come off, so 
she decides to stay in her room where Ross tries to mollify her. They both start 
drinking.

C&M return to the casino, and go to a craps table, where Monica exploits 
Chandlers luck and they make wild statements about what they'll do if they win 
each turn. Chandler finally says if Monica throws an 8 they'll get married 
tomorrow!!!

While this is happening Phoebe is playing slot machines, and gets annoyed when 
an old woman keeps winning on machines she's just left. She's determined to stop 
this, and does the same thing, starting a contest which eventually gets her 
thrown out when she goes too far.

Joey makes one last attempt to convince the croupier of the moneymaking 
possibilities of being a hand-twin, but gets himself thrown out too!

Monica throws the dice and the first one is a 4, but the 2nd falls to the floor. 
After a desperate hunt, C&M find it, but it's balanced between 4&5. Chandler 
however calls it a 4 so they can get married!

Rachel finally agrees to leave her room, but only if she can draw on Ross's face 
- they are both now VERY drunk.

C&M go out looking for 'something old, something new, something borrowed, 
something blue'. They find a sweater which they 'borrow', Monica sneaking it out 
of the store under her dress making her look pregnant, to which Chandler 
comments 'One thing at a time'! :)

Finally C&M arrive at the chapel, and hear a service going on already. As they 
prepare to go in, out stagger Ross & Rachel calling each other Mr & Mrs!!!

There the episode & the season ends.

Are Ross & Rachel REALLY married? That is the cliffhanger.